1 Samuel 25:15 - Ellicott's Commentary On The Whole Bible

But the men were very good unto us. — The “young man” in question who spoke thus to his mistress, Abigail, was evidently one in high authority in the sheep farms of Nabal. His testimony in 1 Samuel 25:15-16, respecting David is clear and decisive, and occurring as it does in the heart of an episode most discreditable to David, it bears weighty testimony to the admirable discipline and the kind forethought of the son of Jesse in times when lawlessness and pillage would have been, if not excusable, certainly to be expected. The great powers of the future king were admirably displayed in this difficult period of his life. Few men could have so moulded a wild company of free lances into a force which, according to the rather unwilling testimony of these shepherds of Nabal’s, was positively a blessing to the country, instead of being, as these bands of free lances usually have been, a terrible curse.